"Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, c. 1904 – May 10, 1977) was an American actress who began her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting as a chorus girl on Broadway, Crawford signed a motion picture contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled, and later outlasted, that of MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hard-working young women who find romance and success. These characters and stories were well received by Depression-era audiences, and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent"
"Florence LeSueur Florence Ruth LeSueur (March 17, 1898 – June 27, 1991) was an African-American civic leader, activist and the first woman president of an NAACP chapter. She was a champion of black rights in employment and education. She was born as Florence Ruth Barrett on March 17, 1898 to Frank C. and Maude (née Lawson) Barrett in Pennsylvania. She attended Wilberforce University and later moved to Boston in 1935. LeSueur had been a long-time resident of the South End, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1948 until 1951 she served as the president of the Boston branch of the"
"Texas, she was the third and youngest child of Tennessee-born Thomas E. LeSueur (January 2, 1868 – January 1, 1938, who died on the day before his 70th birthday), a laundry laborer, and Texas-born Anna Bell Johnson (later Mrs. Anna Cassin), whose year of birth is given as November 29, 1884, although, based on census records, she may have been older. She apparently was still under 20 when her first two children were born. She died on August 15, 1958. Crawford's elder siblings were sister Daisy LeSueur, who died before Lucille's birth, and brother Hal LeSueur. Thomas LeSueur abandoned the"
"Marie Lesueur Marie Lesieur (8 October 1799, Paris - 6 April 1890, Ixelles, Brussels), known as Lesueur, was a French ballet dancer. The daughter of Hébert Lesieur and Marie Calliaud, Lesieur made her debut at the Théâtre de Marseille in 1816, as a 'sujet de la danse'. In the course of a production of the ballet ""La Naissance de Vénus"" (""The Birth of Venus"") in July 1817 she was noted for turning her back on the public, in an inconvenient attitude, but she was pardoned for this and quickly became Marseilles's favourite dancer. Two years later she moved to Brussels"
"Marie Besnard Marie Besnard (15 August 1896 – 14 February 1980), also known as 'The Good Lady of Loudun', was accused serial poisoner in the mid-20th century. Besnard was first charged with multiple murder on July 21, 1949, under her maiden name, Marie Joséphine Philippine Davaillaud. After three trials lasting over ten years (the first held in Poitiers), Besnard was finally freed in 1954, then acquitted on December 12, 1961. The case attracted widespread attention throughout the country and remains one of the most enigmatic in modern French legal history. Born in Loudun, France, Marie married her cousin, Auguste Antigny,"
"of the Harriet Tubman House (now part of United South End Settlements). She died on June 27, 1991 at age 93 in a nursing home in Brockton, Massachusetts. Florence LeSueur Florence Ruth LeSueur (March 17, 1898 – June 27, 1991) was an African-American civic leader, activist and the first woman president of an NAACP chapter. She was a champion of black rights in employment and education. She was born as Florence Ruth Barrett on March 17, 1898 to Frank C. and Maude (née Lawson) Barrett in Pennsylvania. She attended Wilberforce University and later moved to Boston in 1935. LeSueur had"
"she spent far more time working, primarily cooking and cleaning, than studying. She later attended Rockingham Academy, also as a working student. While attending there, she began dating, and had her first serious relationship with a trumpet player named Ray Sterling. Sterling reportedly inspired her to begin challenging herself academically. In 1922, she registered at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, giving her year of birth as 1906. She attended Stephens for only a few months before withdrawing after she realized she was not prepared for college. Under the name Lucille LeSueur, Crawford began dancing in the choruses of traveling revues,"
"do a screen test which he sent to producer Harry Rapf in Hollywood. Rapf notified Granlund on December 24, 1924, that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had offered Crawford a contract at $75 a week. Granlund immediately wired LeSueur, who had returned to her mother's home in Kansas City, with the news; she borrowed $400 for travel expenses. Credited as Lucille LeSueur, her first film was ""Lady of the Night"" in 1925, as the body double for MGM's most popular female star, Norma Shearer. She also appeared in ""The Circle"" and ""Pretty Ladies"" (both 1925), starring comedian ZaSu Pitts. This was soon followed"
"sang with her daughter at the famous Paris Olympia and appeared on several French television shows. She died in Paris, and was interred in the Cimetière de Bagneux in Montrouge, near Paris. ""Adapted from the article Lucienne Boyer, from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License."" Lucienne Boyer Lucienne Boyer (18 August 1901 – 6 December 1983) was a French diseuse and singer, best known for her song ""Parlez-moi d'amour"". Her impresario was Bruno Coquatrix. She was born as Émilienne-Henriette Boyer in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Her melodious voice gave her the chance, while working as a"
"Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, model, entertainment studio executive, and producer. She was the star of the self-produced sitcoms ""I Love Lucy"", ""The Lucy Show"", ""Here's Lucy"", and ""Life with Lucy"", as well as comedy television specials aired under the title ""The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour"". Ball's career began in 1929 when she landed work as a model. Shortly thereafter, she began her performing career on Broadway using the stage names Diane Belmont and Dianne Belmont. She later appeared in several minor film roles in the 1930s and 1940s"
"Mary LeSawyer Mary LeSawyer (October 8, 1917; Shamokin, Pennsylvania – June 13, 2004; Orlando, Florida) was an American opera singer of Ukrainian descent who had an active international career during the 1940s through the 1960s. A lyric soprano, LeSawyer studied opera at the Juilliard School before beginning her singing career. She had a long and fruitful partnership with the New York City Opera from 1949 through 1961. With the NYCO she appeared in ""Carmen"", ""La Traviata"", ""Madame Butterfly"", and others. She notably took part in the company's celebrated 1960 national tour, performing in four American operas: """"The Ballad of Baby"
"Lucille Starr Lucille Starr (born May 13, 1938) is a Canadian Franco-Manitoban / British Columbian singer, songwriter, and yodeler best known for her 1964 hit single, ""Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes"" (""The French Song""). Starr was born Lucille Marie Raymonde Savoie in Saint Boniface, Manitoba. She was raised in Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam's Francophone community of Maillardville, British Columbia, where she learned to play guitar, bass and mandolin. Savoie started her musical career with the local group Les Hirondelles. She met and married country singer Bob Regan, and, using the stage name Lucille Starr, she began performing with"
"Lucienne Boyer Lucienne Boyer (18 August 1901 – 6 December 1983) was a French diseuse and singer, best known for her song ""Parlez-moi d'amour"". Her impresario was Bruno Coquatrix. She was born as Émilienne-Henriette Boyer in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Her melodious voice gave her the chance, while working as a part-time model, to sing in the cabarets of Montparnasse. An office position at a prominent Parisian theater opened the door for her and within a few years she was cast as Lucienne Boyer, singing in the major Parisian music halls. In 1927, Boyer sang at a concert"
"Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre (18 June 1755 – 22 September 1821), also known as Madame Dugazon, was a French operatic mezzo-soprano, actress and dancer. Born in Berlin as the daughter of a dancing master at the court of Frederick II of Prussia, she returned to Paris with her parents in 1765. She made her stage debut at the age of twelve as a dancer, but it was as an actress ""with songs"" that she made her debut at the Comédie Italienne in 1774 in Grétry's ""Sylvain"". She was at once admitted ""pensionnaire"" and in 1775 ""sociétaire"". She became a star"
"best writer. The 2006 television film ""Marie Besnard, l'empoisonneuse"" (Marie Besnard, the Poisoner), resulted in the 2007 Best Performance by an Actress Emmy Award for Muriel Robin in the title role. The English historian Richard Cobb presents a sympathetic portrait of Besnard in a lengthy essay in his book about French life, ""A Second Identity"" (1969). Marie Besnard Marie Besnard (15 August 1896 – 14 February 1980), also known as 'The Good Lady of Loudun', was accused serial poisoner in the mid-20th century. Besnard was first charged with multiple murder on July 21, 1949, under her maiden name, Marie Joséphine"
"Madame Bellecour Rose Perrine le Roy de la Corbinaye (December 10, 1730August 5, 1799) was a French actress, best known under the name of Madame Bellecour. Le Roy was born at Lamballe as the daughter of an artillery officer. Under the stage name of Beaumenard, le Roy made her first Paris appearance in 1743 as Gogo in Charles Simon Favart's ""Le Coq du village"". After a year at the Opéra-Comique, she played in several companies, including that of Marshal Saxe, who is said to have been not insensible to her charms. In 1749, she made her debut at the Comédie-Française"
"Lucie Faure Lucie Faure, ""née"" Meyer (6 July 1908 – 25 September 1977) was a French woman of letters, novelist and literary review director. The daughter of a merchant of fabrics of Alsatian origin, she was the niece, on the maternal side, of Julien Cain, who was administrator general of the Bibliothèque nationale de France from 1930 to 1964. In 1931, she married Edgar Faure, then a young lawyer. A refugee with her husband and daughter in Tunisia in the autumn of 1942 and then in Algiers, after the American landing of 8 November, she was attached to the French"
"La Goulue La Goulue (pronounced [""la gulu""] and meaning ""The Glutton""), was the stage name of Louise Weber (12 July 1866 – 29 January 1929), a French can-can dancer who was a star of the Moulin Rouge, a popular cabaret in the Pigalle district of Paris, near Montmartre. Weber became known as ""La Goulue"" because as an adolescent, she was known for guzzling other cabaret patrons' drinks while dancing. She also was referred to as the Queen of Montmartre. Very little is known about her early childhood, but it is believed that Louise Weber was born into a Jewish family"
"Lucile Watson Lucile Watson (May 27, 1879 – June 24, 1962) was a Canadian actress, long based in the United States. She was ""famous for her roles of formidable dowagers."" Watson was born in Quebec and raised in Ottawa, the daughter of an officer in the British Army. Despite his wishes, she traveled to New York City and enrolled in a dramatic school. Watson began her career on the stage debuting on Broadway in the play ""Hearts Aflame"" in 1902. Her next play was ""The Girl With Green Eyes"", the first of several Clyde Fitch stories. At the end of"
"Lisa Gaye Leslie Gaye Griffin (March 6, 1935 – July 14, 2016), better known as Lisa Gaye, was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Gaye was born in Denver, Colorado to Frank Henry Griffin, a painter, and Margaret Griffin, an actress. The Griffin family moved from Denver to Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Her mother, actress Margaret Griffin, was determined that Gaye and her siblings make their careers in show business. Her siblings, Judith (Teala Loring), Debralee (Debra Paget), and Frank (Ruell Shayne), all entered the business as either cast or"
"Beulah Louise Henry Beulah Louise Henry (February 11, 1887 – February 1973) was an American inventor. In the 1930s, she was given the nickname ""Lady Edison"" for her many inventions. Her inventions include a bobbin-free sewing machine and a vacuum ice cream freezer. Though she was awarded around 49 patents over her lifetime, she had around 110 inventions total. She was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Walter R. and Beulah Henry. She was the granddaughter of former North Carolina Governor W. W. Holden and a direct descendant of Patrick Henry. From 1909 to 1912 she attended North Carolina"
"Beulah Louise Henry Beulah Louise Henry (February 11, 1887 – February 1973) was an American inventor. In the 1930s, she was given the nickname ""Lady Edison"" for her many inventions. Her inventions include a bobbin-free sewing machine and a vacuum ice cream freezer. Though she was awarded around 49 patents over her lifetime, she had around 110 inventions total. She was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Walter R. and Beulah Henry. She was the granddaughter of former North Carolina Governor W. W. Holden and a direct descendant of Patrick Henry. From 1909 to 1912 she attended North Carolina"
"Lily Pons Alice Joséphine Pons (April 12, 1898 – February 13, 1976), known professionally as Lily Pons, was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in ""Lakmé"" and ""Lucia di Lammermoor"". In addition to appearing as a guest artist with many opera houses internationally, Pons enjoyed a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where she performed nearly 300 times between 1931 and 1960. She also"
"Marie Louise of France (1728–1733) Marie Louise of France (28 July 1728 – 19 February 1733) was a French princess, daughter of Louis XV of France and queen Marie Leszczyńska Born at Versailles, the third child of Louis XV of France and his Queen Marie Leszczyńska, she was known as ""Madame Troisième"" until her baptism a few weeks before her death. Her birth was not greeted with much enthusiasm due to her gender; her father had been hoping for a son to call his Dauphin and thus have an heir to the throne. When it was clear that a girl"
"Laure Leprieur Laure Leprieur (1919–1999) was a radio personality in France, although she never participated in a radio show. She gained nationwide fame under the name Madame Leprieur d'Agon-Coutainville and was also nicknamed ""Madame «80 000 Questions»"". She created questions in her free time for the popular French radio show ""Les Grosses Têtes"", which is broadcast every weekday afternoon by RTL. The principle of this show is that the anonymous listeners send cultural or obscure questions to the famous guests of the day (actors, comedians and entertainers), and get a small cash prize if the question is not answered correctly."
"written by Jess Oppenheimer's son, Gregg Oppenheimer, was recorded in front of a live audience for nationwide public radio broadcast and online distribution. Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, model, entertainment studio executive, and producer. She was the star of the self-produced sitcoms ""I Love Lucy"", ""The Lucy Show"", ""Here's Lucy"", and ""Life with Lucy"", as well as comedy television specials aired under the title ""The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour"". Ball's career began in 1929 when she landed work as a model. Shortly thereafter, she began her performing career on"
"Leatrice Joy Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler, November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era. Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler, who was of Austrian and French descent, and Mary Joy Crimens Zeidler, who was of German and Irish descent. She had a brother, Billy, who later worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, where she had planned on becoming a nun, but left when her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis and forced to give up"
"Lucile Sayers Dame Lucile Newell Sayers (""née"" Schiff; 27 February 1887 – 4 November 1959) was an American-British political activist. Sayers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Charles Schiff, a banker from Trieste, Austria, and Mary Ballard Burch of Chattanooga, Tennessee . The family moved to London when she was a young child. In 1910, she married Maj. Lorne Sayers. From 1946–49, Sayers was chairwoman of the Conservative Women's Advisory Committee. She was chairwoman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations in 1951–52 and president of organisation in 1955–56. From 1955–57, she was the United Kingdom"
"Lenore Ulric Lenore Ulric (July 21, 1892 – December 30, 1970) was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films of the silent-film and early sound era. Discovered in 1913 by theater director David Belasco, who would go on to manage her stage career, she was noted for portraying fiery, hot-blooded women of the typical ""femme fatale"". Her father, Franz Xavier Ulrich, was a United States Army hospital steward. He reportedly named his daughter Lenore due to his fondness for the Edgar Allan Poe poem, ""The Raven"". She later dropped the ""h"" from her surname. As a schoolgirl, Lenore"
"Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née Sutherland; 13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a leading British fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who worked under the professional name Lucile. The first British-based designer to achieve international acclaim, Lucy Duff-Gordon was a widely acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion industry public relations. In addition to originating the ""mannequin parade"", a precursor to the modern fashion show, and training the first professional models, she launched liberating slit skirts and low necklines, popularized less restrictive corsets, and promoted alluring and pared-down"
"Adrienne Lecouvreur Adrienne Lecouvreur (5 April 1692 – 20 March 1730), born Adrienne Couvreur, was a French actress, considered by many as the greatest of her time. Born in Damery, she first appeared professionally on the stage in Lille. After her Paris debut at the Comédie-Française in 1717, she was immensely popular with the public. Together with Michel Baron, she was credited for having developed a more natural, less stylized, type of acting. Despite the fame she gained as an actress and her innovations in her acting style, she was widely remembered for her romance with Maurice de Saxe and"
"Lucille Bliss Lucille Theresa Bliss (March 31, 1916 – November 8, 2012) was an American actress, known in the Bay Area and in Hollywood as the ""Girl With a Thousand Voices"". A New York City native, Bliss lent her voice to numerous television characters, including the title character of the very first made-for-television cartoon, ""Crusader Rabbit"", Smurfette on the popular 1980s cartoon ""The Smurfs"" and Ms. Bitters on the Nickelodeon animated series ""Invader ZIM"". In addition to her television roles, she was known for her work as a voice actress in feature films. Bliss' parents were James Francis and Frieda"
"Louise of France (1737–1787) The Venerable Louise-Marie of France (15 July 1737 – 23 December 1787) was a French princess and Carmelite, the youngest of the ten children of Louis XV and Maria Leszczyńska. She entered the Carmelite convent (now the Musée d'art et d'histoire de Saint-Denis) at Saint-Denis in 1770 under the name of Thérèse of Saint Augustine, and served as prioress in 1773-1779 and 1785-1787. She was declared venerable in 1873. Louise-Marie of France was born at Versailles on 15 July 1737. Her birth was particularly difficult for her mother, who was advised by her physicians that another"